Ground Zero
Secession isn't really a viable option. You simply can't stand up to the resources Harry has, the only option is to distance yourself as far away as possible. Harry's escorts will be here in a few days so you start packing immediately. Marina wonders what you're doing.
"We're getting the hell outta here! You think Harry's gonna let me live? At best he might be sending me into missions into the city! Fuck that!"
"You mean we're just leaving? We're not fighting back?"
"What you think I like this? I mean I don't want to leave, but if we stay, we're gonna end up dead! Come on pack your shit."
"I dunno. I can't just leave everything. I mean I'm still friends and close to all these people, I can't just leave them."
"Look, I've actually gotten along with most of the folks here too, but I'm not sticking my neck out for any of them. Besides, if they're smart they'll leave too."
"I can't do it, I can't go."
You stop packing.
"What, are you fucking kidding me?"
"No, I mean I can't do it. This is my life, this was my life before the bombs and it'll continue to be my life afterwards. I can't just leave, I mean we're trying to re-build society "
"Fuck society! Why can't it just be me and you?"
Marina suddenly tells you a revelation you always had an inkling of, but never quite sure until today
"You know why I liked you in the beginning? Because all those years we worked in that office I saw a man who worked hard in a mundane job yet had the potential to be something more under the right circumstances. I'm sure you remember I said something similar five years ago when I convinced you to come with me. Then you proved me right somewhat by volunteering and taking charge of this place. I knew I'd chosen right. I was in love with you."
"Was eh?"
"Yes, was. In the following years of you taking command of this place you've shown no more initiative. You've been content to just do the mundane routine of running this place. You were doing exactly the opposite of what I first saw. You were squandering your potential."
"So what was I supposed to be doing then Marina? Driving across the fuckin' wasteland shooting up people, taking their shit, and declaring their town part of the Combine like Harry?"
"No, of course not. But you could've done something more. Like sending out your own exploration teams, or even going on them yourself. Maybe if you had, you wouldn't be in this position now. You'd have better leverage to face Harry. Maybe he is a fucking dictator, but he's accomplishing a goal."
You pack the last of your things and start walking while Marina follows you.
"Yeah, some goal Okay you know what Marina, fuck it. I gotta get outta here, and its apparent you've made your decision and I'm not gonna try to talk you out of it, because if you're that willing to throw fuckin' five years away just because I'm not the wasteland warrior that you dreamed up in your mind, then like I said fuck it. You're not worth my time either anymore. I hope you and Harry have a nice life, I'm sure he's exactly what you're looking for. Hope for your sake though his obsession for you is a lot stronger than his vindictiveness."
"Fuck you! It's not that goddamn black and white! I don't like fuckin Harry, and I never will, but HEY! Don't fuckin' walk out on me!"
You storm out of the base, and Marina attempts to reason and explain, but it's all bullshit to you. This whole thing was. Trying to "rebuild" society, yeah right. As if there was anything worth rebuilding in the first place. You're done with this shit. You tried it and it was okay for awhile, but now its time to move on. Away from this and away from people.
You travel for a few days, and you expect Harry's men to come tracking you, but nobody ever follows you. You get attacked by a few mutated wolves, and a few mad men here and there, but nobody from the Combine. It's possible that you've done a good job of throwing them off, and Harry's people aren't skilled trackers, of course maybe Harry's just glad you're out of the way period. You briefly have an amusing thought, that Marina still had some sort of feelings for you and offered to be Harry's girl in exchange of letting you live.
You decide to think that's what happened, since you'll never know for certain and you've always been prone to imagine dramatic movie like endings.
"Heh. We'll always have Pandora." You laugh to yourself as you distance yourself further away from Combine territory.
"We're getting the hell outta here! You think Harry's gonna let me live? At best he might be sending me into missions into the city! Fuck that!"
"You mean we're just leaving? We're not fighting back?"
"What you think I like this? I mean I don't want to leave, but if we stay, we're gonna end up dead! Come on pack your shit."
"I dunno. I can't just leave everything. I mean I'm still friends and close to all these people, I can't just leave them."
"Look, I've actually gotten along with most of the folks here too, but I'm not sticking my neck out for any of them. Besides, if they're smart they'll leave too."
"I can't do it, I can't go."
You stop packing.
"What, are you fucking kidding me?"
"No, I mean I can't do it. This is my life, this was my life before the bombs and it'll continue to be my life afterwards. I can't just leave, I mean we're trying to re-build society "
"Fuck society! Why can't it just be me and you?"
Marina suddenly tells you a revelation you always had an inkling of, but never quite sure until today
"You know why I liked you in the beginning? Because all those years we worked in that office I saw a man who worked hard in a mundane job yet had the potential to be something more under the right circumstances. I'm sure you remember I said something similar five years ago when I convinced you to come with me. Then you proved me right somewhat by volunteering and taking charge of this place. I knew I'd chosen right. I was in love with you."
"Was eh?"
"Yes, was. In the following years of you taking command of this place you've shown no more initiative. You've been content to just do the mundane routine of running this place. You were doing exactly the opposite of what I first saw. You were squandering your potential."
"So what was I supposed to be doing then Marina? Driving across the fuckin' wasteland shooting up people, taking their shit, and declaring their town part of the Combine like Harry?"
"No, of course not. But you could've done something more. Like sending out your own exploration teams, or even going on them yourself. Maybe if you had, you wouldn't be in this position now. You'd have better leverage to face Harry. Maybe he is a fucking dictator, but he's accomplishing a goal."
You pack the last of your things and start walking while Marina follows you.
"Yeah, some goal Okay you know what Marina, fuck it. I gotta get outta here, and its apparent you've made your decision and I'm not gonna try to talk you out of it, because if you're that willing to throw fuckin' five years away just because I'm not the wasteland warrior that you dreamed up in your mind, then like I said fuck it. You're not worth my time either anymore. I hope you and Harry have a nice life, I'm sure he's exactly what you're looking for. Hope for your sake though his obsession for you is a lot stronger than his vindictiveness."
"Fuck you! It's not that goddamn black and white! I don't like fuckin Harry, and I never will, but HEY! Don't fuckin' walk out on me!"
You storm out of the base, and Marina attempts to reason and explain, but it's all bullshit to you. This whole thing was. Trying to "rebuild" society, yeah right. As if there was anything worth rebuilding in the first place. You're done with this shit. You tried it and it was okay for awhile, but now its time to move on. Away from this and away from people.
You travel for a few days, and you expect Harry's men to come tracking you, but nobody ever follows you. You get attacked by a few mutated wolves, and a few mad men here and there, but nobody from the Combine. It's possible that you've done a good job of throwing them off, and Harry's people aren't skilled trackers, of course maybe Harry's just glad you're out of the way period. You briefly have an amusing thought, that Marina still had some sort of feelings for you and offered to be Harry's girl in exchange of letting you live.
You decide to think that's what happened, since you'll never know for certain and you've always been prone to imagine dramatic movie like endings.
"Heh. We'll always have Pandora." You laugh to yourself as you distance yourself further away from Combine territory.
